


Intertwined

by plant_boi_potter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Background 8th Year Fic, Constellation Talk, Drabble, Kissing, M/M, Mild Language, Trees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:41:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24799372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plant_boi_potter/pseuds/plant_boi_potter
Summary: Decisions as inconsequential as kissing aren’t written in the stars. But maybe they should be.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 77





	Intertwined

The tree stood, still and tall in the waning light, its leaves moving from time to time with the steady breeze. Draco had taken to watching the sunset more, the sky open and free above him as he picked bits of foliage from the branches. He’d been doing it since first year and had never really found a good time to stop. 

He found it relaxing, the waxy feel of the leaves coming through his fingers. The solitude was a bonus; maybe this was how Potter felt when he was alone.  
He shook his head. He wouldn’t think of a that _traitor_ now. Not here, when he wanted an escape. This was his peace. 

He bounced his foot on the branch beneath his heel as he watched the pink sky fade to orange, tapping his heel vigorously in time with his thoughts. 

It was turmoil, everything turned on its head. He respected his father but now that he was in jail Draco had time to re-evaluate that he might have been wrong, as least some of the time. Government conspiracy though, he didn’t have the energy. He had NEWT’s to study for. 

Tap. Bounce. Tap. Bounce. 

The branch creaked, a long low sound in the quiet of the encroaching night. It started small, cracking under Draco’s heel, long spindly splits emerging along the bark. 

Before Draco could scramble back, let alone move his foot the branch broke completely. The thump was solid and Draco peered over the edge of the foliage to where the dead branch lay, disturbing the already browning leaves below. 

“Shit.”

The tree had grown since his antics in 5th year and he had found, quite by accident, that he could no longer jump to the floor. 

Draco cringed at the memory of that particular night, alone in the school’s infirmary - decorated with white sheets and disinfectant charms. 

“Accio broom.” He called into the night, to no avail. Even so, he kept his hand outstretched for a couple of minutes, in a bleak sort of hope. A damning hope that he carried with him always. 

Nothing. 

He let his hand drop.   
  


* * *

As the sun sank below the horizon, Draco started to panic, going as far as to consider - if only for a split second - turning his wand inwards so he could try a self-inflicted defence spell. 

He found himself shuddering at the impulsiveness of the thought - so _Gryffindorish_ \- that he made the decision to wait it out, settling his back against the curve of the tree, feeling the rough edges of the bark digging into his shirt. His warming charm was bad, dipping in and out, but it was more than nothing, a cocoon against the cool breeze. 

He tried to tune out the sound of merriment floating down from the castle, the scent of cooked food following closely behind; chicken and scotched eggs and pastry. 

The disturbance of leaves below had Draco on his guard, wand drawn. He had all of two minutes to decide which he loved more; his pride or his want of hot food. 

The silhouette was dark amongst the branches, looking too short to reach for the lower branches to help Draco from his seat in the higher up boughs. He would have mistaken him for a forth year if not for the obviously tousled curls. 

He heard Harry’s voice catch as he pointed his wand downward, and instantly jerked his hand backward. “I- it was a lighting charm.” Before he could change his mind a “Lumos” had been cast and Harry’s face was awash with light. 

He was squinting up at him, glancing from Draco’s white face to the branch and back. His eyes narrowed when he looked back at Draco. “How do I know this isn’t a trick?”

Draco groaned, throwing his hands up in defeat, wrapping his legs around the trunk momentarily before grabbing back onto the trunk. His blush was travelling down his neck, he could feel it heating his cheeks and nose, all too aware of the light shining between him and his nemesis. 

A hand flew to his face, even though the dark was closing in fast enough for it to be unnecessary if he just unlit his wand. “What the hell are you _doing here_ , Potter?” It was supposed to sound indignant but it came off feeble and irritated. 

“I could ask you the same.” Harry cocked his head to the side, his arms folded. 

Draco thought of answering truthfully for all of three seconds before reverting back to a sneer. “Even I didn't think you were that dense. You see that branch you were so lovingly gazing at earlier, the one on the floor. Well, it’s come from this tree, you see, so putting two and two together you’d see I’m-”

“Stuck.” Harry’s eyes glinted with mirth in the low light. 

“Well.” Draco sniffed. “I suppose, yes. So help me down or go away.” 

He didn’t realise he was holding his breath until Harry sat down. “Have you tried getting your broom?” 

“Have I- of course I’ve tried! It was the first thing I did, what do you take me for?” 

“An idiot.” Harry said softly into the night, staring up at Draco as he gesticulated at the air, long limbs swaying in graceful arcs as he talked, ignoring Harry’s lopsided grin completely. 

“- why can’t you get yours?”

“My what?”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Your broom.” He shook a tree branch above his head and watched in delight as Harry picked needles from his mane of hair. 

“My broom’s in the broom shed, we locked them up last night and no, I’m not sneaking around because I have the key. I don’t.”

“So you _are_ sneaking around.”

“Shit.”

A light appeared from Harry’s own outstretched wand, bathing his face in a clear pearlescent glow. His eyes were clouded with sleep and his hair mussed up on one side. He grimaced as he watched Draco take in his new, clearer appearance. 

“I accidentally slept through dinner. Astronomy homework.” Harry gestured to the stars as if it was their fault he overslept. 

Draco let his head fall back, the recollection that he too had left his broom in the broomshed that afternoon hitting him like a train; his hand leaving the black handle of his broom to shove back through the small crowd of people who’d continued playing for the camadere of it all. 

Harry had been there too, waiting at the entrance for someone. Probably Ron or Ginny. _Ginevra_ . Draco corrected. For someone _else_ , but Draco, if only for a moment, allowed himself to pretend that those bright, searching eyes were for him.

* * *

A silence had fallen until Harry asked what Draco was looking at. He was confused for a split second before he realised his eyes had drifted, fixing on a non-specific point in the sky. 

“I’m looking at the stars,” he said vaguely.

Harry angled his face towards the pinpricks of light. “The centaurs have a hell of a job. I wouldn’t know where to begin.” 

“Well,” Draco pointed north to a cluster of stars. “That’s my namesake, Draco. See the way it dips down then up before ending in the tail. And that one-” he moved his finger so he was circling the zodiac. “In between the crab and the maiden is Leo, the lion.” He grinned, obviously impressed with himself. “Too bad there isn’t a constellation called Harry.” 

Harry laughed, the sound cutting through the still night, Draco laughing with him, shoulders shaking heartilly until he fell from the tree. 

* * *

  
He landed on a cushioning charm but it hadn’t stopped him flailing around like a wingless gull. Less grace and more fragility. The sight would have been almost intimate if he hadn’t screamed a litany of curses as he fell. 

“Sh.” Harry placed his finger to his lips but he was laughing still. 

Most of the roosting birds squarked to life and Harry watched as a dispersion of wildlife temporarily let the stars wink out. 

Draco tipped his head back, panting as his heart hammered in his chest. He closed his eyes, listening to the small sounds of the night. 

The owls, the wind, Harry sneezing.

He cracked an eye open. “Do you mind?” He _just_ managed to sound haughty and annoyed, his crisp, clipped accent causing them both to dissolve into more, quiet giggles. 

Harry shifted to lean back against the tree, sinking down into the mushy earth. “What’s the closest star to a Harry star?” 

“Are you just being vain or are you genuinely interested?” Draco’s eyebrow rose, unconvincingly from where he lay in the leaves. 

“I’m interested because you’re interested.” 

Draco rolled his eyes but decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Instead he shuffled further from the tree trunk. “Lie down.”

Harry hesitated for only a fraction of a second before shrugging and dropping to the ground, the autumn leaves crunching under his back as he shifted. 

“That’s Polaris.” Draco pointed to the brightest star in the sky. He watched Harry as he located it. “At nightfall in May, the Big Dipper is above it, see?” He traced the outline loosely. 

Harry looked lost, so, without thinking, Draco grabbed his hand. “There.”

Harry’s breath was shallower as he let Draco guide his hand. “See that the North Star is to the left? Well… if you look to the right that’s Leo.”

“The lion.” Harry nodded.

“You know _some_ things then?”

“I know a lot of things.” Harry shifted so he was lying on his side, watching Draco look up at the sky again before turning - his breath catching in his throat. “I can teach you a lot of things too, you know. If you let me.”

“What?” Draco couldn’t focus on anything other than Harry.

He smelled like pine needles and old books, his hair more wild than ever, but his eyes were earnest as he closed the gap between them. 

“Oh!” Draco’s brain caught up with his heart as he closed his eyes.

This wasn’t _**Harry Potter**_. He was just a boy who wanted to be loved. A boy who’s lips felt like the whole sky.

Every star Draco had ever laid eyes upon couldn’t compare to the galaxy exploding behind his eyes as Harry ran his hands through Draco’s hair, his fingers looping runaway strands behind his ears in slow, practiced motions. 

“I’ve wanted to do this since fifth year.” Harry mumbled against Draco’s lips before flopping onto his back again.


End file.
